Passing the Sniff (Snort) Test

by Matthew Hansen

They go by several names: Bloatware. Trialware. Pre-installation-ware. Some of them are completely innocuous. Many are designed to automate harvesting of information from the user. The line between these "unwantedware" and malware is thinning. Whether they arrive in our networks from a less-than-perfect supply chain, or as a natural result from Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policies, or even as an aggressive customer support "service" from the manufacturer, unwantedware shall exist. On the best of days, network defenders will identify, mitigate, and remove said software from their organization in the hopes that it cannot come back. Unfortunately, these herculean efforts are not enough. Users will ignore warnings from the security administrators. Users will pay lip service to the security training their organization provides. Users will rationalize intrusions into their devices through a myriad of worthless excuses: "I'm really boring", or "Anyone who wants to spy on me will have a lo...